The Heart of a Warrior

The heart is the strongest muscle in our bodies. We all know
that. It is what keeps us alive. It is what drives us, what pumps blood through
our veins, what keeps us alive.

I was in Vegas at the Olympia this year, something I had my
heart set on for a few months. The will of a heart makes so many things possible. I wanted to see my friends from my new found
family at the Super Gym compete and cheer them on – Evan Centopani, Jillian
Reville and Jamie Pinder.

On the night of the Meet the Olympians, I made my way
through the several athlete booths to find the familiar faces and make sure I
snapped some photos. Jillian Reville was at the very end of the right wing of
the concierge area where they had the booths set up all over. She was sitting quietly at
a table next to Phil Heath, whose line you couldn't see the end to.

Jillian and husband Donny after prejudging at the
Dallas Europa, where Jillian earned her O qualification.

Jillian and I met eyes, and as usual, she waved and jumped to hug me.
If there is any one woman I know that always seems happy or positive regardless
of the circumstances, her name is Jillian Reville. Her surprised eyes, her
smile, the energy and joy she felt was transferred immediately in the air. It
was like a festive bubble she brought me into, where I was invited to celebrate
with her one of her proudest moments: getting on the Olympia stage.

Jillian and I had exchanged our hellos and in the most
nonchalant of tones, she tells me her vision on her left eye is blurry...almost
completely gone. She tells me she just woke up and she couldn't see very well.
She smiled the entire time while I stood there in shock, mouth wide open, looking over at her
supportive husband Donny nodding in agreement.

Massive amounts of swag.

Jillian had trained her heart and soul into this Olympia
prep like nothing I have ever seen from her. Despite her inability to see from
one eye, she managed to get up on that Olympia stage, rock her routine like no
one’s business, and place and admirable 6th place at the very first
Women’s Physique Olympia. What an amazing story and honor! It is, actually, but the fact
is, that’s not where the warrior in her even shows up or where the story ends.

The Olympia came and went. The jet-lag had worn out of
most of us on the East Coast, and we have gone to our typical daily routines.

One Friday afternoon, October 4th, to be exact, I
received a phone call from Jillian on my way to picking up my daughter from
school. Her voice…there was something about her voice that I already didn’t
like. She sounded …different. But still, her cheerfulness managed to break
through that worrisome feeling I felt coming from her.

That’s when she disclosed to me what was actually going on
with her and the reason for her almost gone vision during the Olympia weekend.

Group shot!

Jillian had suffered a mini-stroke, something she didn’t find out about until she
returned home and went to the hospital. After tests were done, it was also revealed that she has a hole in her heart. Still I hear the very positive and cheerful voice
on the other end of the line while I am shaking and holding myself from
bursting into tears. I did. I broke down. I am now as I write this.

The congenital condition Jillian was born with is a birth
defect called called Patent Foreman Ovale (PFO). One out of five people
are born with this condition, and normally, the hole closes on its own. On
Jillian, it didn’t, causing her stroke. She is due to have open heart surgery
in the next coming weeks to repair and close up the hole in her heart.

If you think about how strong someone’s will, determination
and drive has to be in order to overcome obstacles and do something
that they are passionate about, and how the mind and the heart are connected
into achieving those goals, there isn’t a better example than this.

A warrior: apersonwhoshowsorhasshowngreatvigor,courage,oraggressiveness.

Heart of a Warrior: Jillian Reville.

Even in her wedding dress she strikes the famous Jillian pose

Jillian at her wedding reception this past weekend.
From right to left: Sandra and Fakhri Mubarak, and Jillian. Sitting down Kenny Wallach,
Jerry and Darin Montanari and me.